Welcome to FISHBOOST's second newsletter

Globally there is an increasing demand for aquaculture products. There is a huge potential for making the European aquaculture sector more efficient, profitable and more sustainable. The development of better and more breeding programmes form the basis for these major improvements. The European research project FISHBOOST will advance aquaculture to the next levels. FISHBOOST works on improving the main components of breeding programmes for the main six fish species produced in Europe.

This newsletter updates you about recent developments on aquaculture breeding and the FISHBOOST project.

Breeding for improved disease resistance
in European farmed fish

Identifying genetic factors of disease resistance

Improving the genetic resistance of farmed fish to some of the most problematic infectious diseases in European aquaculture is the goal of Work Package 1 (WP1) of the FISHBOOST project.

In year 1, a series of disease challenge experiments have been undertaken on populations of juvenile fish with known pedigree. The data collected from these challenges will be used to quantify the genetic variation in disease resistance in these populations, and to develop genetic markers that can be used to find underlying resistance genes and to breed more resistant stocks. Infectious disease outbreaks present one of the biggest threats to reliable and sustainable production of finfish in Europe. During such outbreaks, typically some fish in a population are much worse affected than others. This variation is due to both genetic and environmental factors. Quantifying and characterising the genetic factors can lead to development of more resistant stock via selective breeding programmes. Read more.

Reports on current status of selective breeding in Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout

FISHBOOST reports regarding the current status of selective breeding of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout in Europe have revealed some remarkable differences in the breeding industry.

Atlantic salmon is produced in the Northern part of Europe and as an effect of a rather uniform production strategy, differences among breeding companies are relatively small. All seven breeding companies perform family selection and their combined market share in total European egg production is around 93-97%. In contrast, trout is produced in a wide variety of systems for different markets throughout all of Europe. This diversity in production strategy is reflected by the large differences among breeding companies. Of the 15 breeding companies in Europe, 6 perform mass selection and the other 9 perform family selection. Their combined market share is around 65-68%.

Read the complete FISHBOOST reports about the current status of selective breeding of Atlantic salmon and Rainbow trout here.

Meet the researchers at ISGA XII and Aquaculture 2015where they will present their results!ISGA XII: The international symposium on genetics in aquaculture XII, 21st - 27th June in Santiago de Compostella, SpainAquaculture 2015: Cutting Edge Science in Aquaculture, 23 - 26 August 2015 in Le Corum, Montpellier, France

In the spotlight:

Adrián Millán Pérez, Geneaqua SL Manager.

'It is fascinating to participate in the development of new techniques and methodologies to set the foundation for the future of breeding in aquaculture!'

General Assembly 2015

Participants of the General Assembly gathered at INRA in Jouy-en-Josas to share information at the first FISHBOOST Annual Meeting in January 2015.

Many thanks to the local organisation at INRA, which was led by Dr. Edwige Quillet, and the French industry partners for sponsoring the evening dinner. An update of the activities of the different workpackages was given and there was the possibility to visit the labs of INRA and Labogena DNA in Jouy-en-Josas.

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement n° 613611 - FISHBOOST.

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